The Original Site



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When we first landscaped this part of the garden the plan was always to
add a pond. However, we hit the soakaway concrete and as we were working
to a dead-line (a party for my daughter’s 1st birthday) we decided to
compromise and just add a water feature consisting of a waterfall going
onto cobbles and into a reservoir. The whole thing was powered by a
Hozelock Titan 3000 and worked pretty well. As for the pond, at this
point I still had my pond at the top of the garden so although not
entirely happy thought it wasn’t to be. After the first year or so the
water feature developed a leak. This meant that if we ran it we also had
to have a hose pipe going into the reservoir almost continuously which
rather spoilt the effect. I tried a couple of times to fix it but with
limited success. So I decided that I needed to tear it apart and have a
serious go at finding the leak…..then I thought….if I’m pulling it apart
maybe I should build a small pond…..5ft by 3ft perhaps…..hmmmmmm……I
procrastinated and ran the idea past hubby, who agreed to it…..then I
thought that the clay soil would get too hard to dig this year (serious
digging normally stops as the clay becomes rock solid by around
May)….then the rain came down…..the soil was still soft enough to dig…so
the beginning of June we started. The size of the thing started to grow
– it is now 3m at longest and 2.5m longest width…..then the rains came
down again….and again….and again…..and again….so all work on the pond
had to stop…..even when the weather was dry the ground was so sodden
that the weight of the soil made it almost impossible to dig……We did hit
the soakaway and had to get a pneumatic breaker to go through the
concrete….we then had to repair the pipe work……Holidays then kicked in
but when I got home I was determined that this darned thing was going to
get finished…and then…..we got our summer at last and I have been
working on it again for around a week (sorry no photos of the mud hole –
too depressing at the time to take any)…..



By this Sunday the pond was just about ready to be lined…..part of the
problem was building up the sides as the garden slopes toward the
house….we hit on the idea of creating a framework for part of it – hence
the even rectangular shape of part of the pond……I’ve worked on it
steadily all week and although it still has some way to go I thought I
would post some pics of it as it is now.





Rectangular bit of Pond



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This is where we had to do the wooden framework…..part of the problem
was building up the edges with soil around the bamboo clump…..the
framework should also help with stopping any side shoots (not that I’ve
had many in the 5 years since the stuff was planted). This is the
deepest part of the pond at approx 2ft 6” deep. I’ve made an iris bog
garden at the end to discourage anyone from wandering in at that end.
The deck side will be dealt with by fencing – probably a clear, acrylic
structure which allows a clear view of the water (and the panels can be
removed for maintenance) but I need to research the cost of this. The
liner will be fixed in place with another layer of decking board which
will also protect the pond against any detergents etc. used to clean the
windows of the house or the decking itself (sealed with a fish friendly
sealant to prevent leaks). I haven’t taken the water up to it’s highest
level yet…..mainly to allow for settling and also because we have heavy
rain forecast for next Monday.





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From this view the pond looks like a plain rectangle…..at each end
there is a bog garden with Yellow irises – at the end closest to the
shot I have also planted some blue flag irises (?) in dry soil donated
by my neighbour who was splitting a large clump and didn’t want to throw
them away. The bog gardens are mulched with pea gravel…..I’ve already
tried this in the past and have not found it has restricted growth (the
irises in both bog gardens come from 5 small plants I bought 5 years
ago). The seat you can see is one of two…there is also a park bench in
there…..this is one of my favourite places to sit (I have many depending
on my mood and whether I want to look at the cottage garden or the more
structured one)……now I have the pond in place I rather fancy it may
become the real fave….the green cylinder thing is the patio heater….



The Fence end of the pond



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The area that is still just plain liner is where the return pipe from
the filter will be. We have some very large pieces of slate rock that we
are going to build into a kind of waterfall (just a drop of around 6” or
so). These will go there. To the right of the pic is the second bog iris
planting. I’m still to finish off the rockwork on the curve – it will
depend on how things work out with the large rocks or whether I decide
to just cobble it…..the pond has a gradual slope up to the curve to
allow for animals and children (or indeed any adults) an easy escape
route if they fall in.



Pic of the full width of the pond



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In fact, this would have been the original size if it hadn’t grown like
these things do……in fact it wasn’t supposed to go up to the edge of the
deck at all. The rocks in the foreground are the rocks that will be used
for the return area.



Almost a full view but not quite



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Speaks for itself really when taken in conjunction with the above
pics…..BTW the cat picked on the planter with the grass as his favourite
sunbathing spot this year hence one is dead and the other is flattened – lol



Sorry for the length of the post……I will post more pics once
finished…….I got the filter today (credit card groans)……I still am not
certain of the volume but it is circa 2000L (around 500 IMP gall) but
this is a low estimate……It’s a Laguna ClearFlo with integrated UV……man
in LFS was a good salesman because I was going to go for the cheaper
Hozelock filter…..



Gill